GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Position in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) by 36.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,862 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,165 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Zoetis were worth $1,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Zoetis by 108.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 2,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zoetis during the second quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in Zoetis by 10.7% in the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Zoetis by 16.6% in the second quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in Zoetis by 10.7% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ZTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Zoetis from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zoetis in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Zoetis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Zoetis in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $215.22.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of ZTS opened at $162.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $73.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.39. Zoetis Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.80 and a 12 month high of $200.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.12. Zoetis had a return on equity of 51.98% and a net margin of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Zoetis Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zoetis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This is a positive change from Zoetis’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Zoetis’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Zoetis Company Profile

Zoetis Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services in the United States and internationally. The company commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.